"Why dentistry?" Question

[503224]

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Okay, so I decided to make a separate thread about this. I couldn't find a thread that really matched what I'm going for, so bear with me.

I'm always hearing that people should come up with good reasons to answer the question "Why dentistry?"/"Why not medicine?" but I really don't think that's the case. I honestly think that there's no real answer to "why dentistry" that cannot apply to some specialty in medicine as well.

What I mean is, other than the whole "I love teeth!" or "I don't want to have to do a residency" thing (obviously!), but who is really going to say that in an interview? Those aren't really convincing reasons for "why dentistry" in my book.

Also, we all pretty much have similar (if not the same) versions of "why dentistry" and so I really think that this whole come up with a good answer for "why dentistry" is kind of BS. We can't reinvent the wheel here. We're all going to have similar answers, so what people should realistically say is "come up with a convincing answer" because that's how I see it.

FWIW, here are IMO the most common "why dentistry" reasons: helping people, artistic, working with hands, improving people's health, running a business, artistic, lifestyle, job security, positive/personal relationship with family dentist, etc etc.

Opinions/thoughts? Agree? Disagree? Neutral?

 

[KittySquared]

You should not be wondering what adcoms want to hear. Answer to that question should come from your heart, and that's the truth.

 

[UltimateHombre]

First off, i think that most of us have had a personal experience that really gave us a desire to persue dentistry. This is something that can't be fabricated and has to come from within.

My Reasons for Dentistry:
- Personal experience with pediatric dentist
- Working with hands
- Life long patient relationships
- Improving peoples overall health
- Set own hours / Not on call
- Run a business
- No stress of life/death decisions

As someone else said earlier, dentistry has the perfect combination of all these things. The only other medical specialties, that i can think of, that would qualify for all of these would be ophthalmology and dermatology. And even then, you will probably not have all the above, especially right out of school.

And lets be honest... to go into medicine for the only intent of doing derm/ophtho would be very foolish. There are very few residency spots and you have to be the top 5% of students to get them.

Considering these things, then you add on not having to do a residency, variety of procedures, and an uncapped earning potential... dentistry is the clear winner.

 

[UCSFx2017]

It's less about the content and more about the way you present the information. Yes, you want to work with your hands. But don't say it like that. Explain why working with your hands is important to you. Add a little uniqueness by tying in some relevant story.

 

[503224]

You should not be wondering what adcoms want to hear.

Shouldn't we? They're the ones making admissions decisions.

To me this thread isn't about what adcoms want to hear, though. I just wanted to know whether anyone else thought this "why dentistry"/"why not medicine" line of questioning is BS. That's what I'm geting at. I think it's a BS question that doesn't determine real reasons for wanting to go into dentistry, rather it determines how well you are able to convince the adcom that your reasons are genuine.

Answer to that question should come from your heart, and that's the truth.

You can have any answer come "from the heart" but if you're not able to sell it, it'll come off fake. If everyone's giving the same answer, which we all pretty much are, the ability to come off fake depends on whether or not you can sell it.

I'm motivated to do dentistry because I want to help people and because I want to do procedures. However honest or from the heart that may be (which is for no one else to judge, because no one can step into my mind and determine my real reason for going down this career path), I'm not going to pretend that those are unique reasons or that they're more compelling than anyone else's.

Furthermore, I cannot enumerate how many times I've been told to come up with a "good reason" for "why dentistry" from the people at my local dental school or the dentists that I've shadowed. If no reason is unique, then what's a good reason? The one you can sell better, if you can sell anything.

Therefore the question becomes how well you are able to sell your reason. Does that make any sense?

In contradiction to your assertion that I'm looking for an answer to please admissions committee members, my personal opinion is that for "why dentistry" it should be enough to say "look, I've shadowed dental professionals and I just think this is a good fit for me and what I'd like to do" instead of having to come up with a "good reason" for why dentistry (I'm only repeating what I've been told by dental professionals here, and they all say you need to come up with a "good reason").

It's a personal decision and it's not for adcoms or anyone else to judge whether you're being honest or not. This whole come up with a "good reason" thing annoys the daylights out of me. Besides, no one is going to know 100% whether they really want dentistry until they start working on patients. That's the plain and simple truth of it.

 

[503224]

It's less about the content and more about the way you present the information.

This is exactly what irks me.

First off, i think that most of us have had a personal experience that really gave us a desire to persue dentistry. This is something that can't be fabricated and has to come from within.

Disagree on this point. I actually think this can be fabricated if you're a good actor.

 

[BrutalViking]

7 years of braces that corrected both an under bite and a lisp-causing twisted frontal top incisors

 

[shulk]

Why do you want to become a dentist?
I also have struggled with this. When I say my reasons out loud, they come off as sounding selfish. I think this is why we are embarrassed by them sometimes. The truth is that practically anything is due to some 'selfish' reason, our career choices included. I think once we accept that we can word our reasons in such a way to make ourselves sound as little like a jerk as possible.

The advice given about about taking a common reason and making it personal with actual examples is excellent advice I think. Working with hands is one of my reasons, and I'm going to relate it to my education as a pianist and past career as a music teacher.

 

[shulk]

7 years of braces that corrected both an under bite and a lisp-causing twisted frontal top incisors

I like this too. The basic reason is that 'I suffered dental problems and want to help others with dental problems' but they are using a concrete example which is much more vivid.

 

[UltimateHombre]

It's less about the content and more about the way you present the information. Yes, you want to work with your hands. But don't say it like that. Explain why working with your hands is important to you. Add a little uniqueness by tying in some relevant story.

Exactly!! Be yourself!! 👍

This is exactly what irks me.

Sorry it bothers you, but that is the way it is. This is the way the whole "system" is. Full of contradictions and hoops to jump through. They want people who are well rounded, diverse, and compassionate; so this forces all applicants to volunteer no matter what their interests, just to "look good".

It's total bull****... I can't tell you how much it bothers me to see threads like: "What EC will look best", "Will ADCOMS care if i don't have research", "What should i say to X interview question", "What is school X looking for"... Stop trying to fit the mold!! Just be passionate and genuine with whatever you do. Volunteer because you like it. Answer questions honestly. Pursue whatever interests you. Stop trying to be the ideal candidate in every way and just be yourself. This really is what dental schools want: individuals form different backgrounds of life, with different passions and interests. When you try and fit the mold you loose your individuality.

Shouldn't we? They're the ones making admissions decisions.

No... I don't think so. If you are passionate it will show through, sure you can act it out, but being genuine, real and yourself is always the best answer!

 

[503224]

Sorry it bothers you, but that is the way it is. This is the way the whole "system" is. Full of contradictions and hoops to jump through. They want people who are well rounded, diverse, and compassionate; so this forces all applicants to volunteer no matter what their interests, just to "look good".

It's total bull****... I can't tell you how much it bothers me to see threads like: "What EC will look best", "Will ADCOMS care if i don't have research", "What should i say to X interview question", "What is school X looking for"... Stop trying to fit the mold!! Just be passionate and genuine with whatever you do. Volunteer because you like it. Answer questions honestly. Pursue whatever interests you. Stop trying to be the ideal candidate in every way and just be yourself. This really is what dental schools want: individuals form different backgrounds of life, with different passions and interests. When you try and fit the mold you loose your individuality.

You know, it's also that I'm getting bothered by the stuff you mentioned above...all the hoops everyone has to jump through, that in reality may or may not actually have meaning for people.

Ultimately, I feel like I'm getting pressure to do one thing or another because it'll "look good" or to "check off a box" or something. And it's not coming from fellow predents who don't really have an idea of what they're talking about...this is coming from dental professionals and it's just so annoying.

For example: I am a genuinely altruistic person and have a bunch of volunteering experiences, however because my volunteering experiences are not dental-related (came to the dental conclusion late in life but the volunteering experiences made me realize that while I love to volunteer in those fields, a career in them is not what I want to do), I have been told that I should drop them and start dental-volunteering experiences. I feel like there's a reason I'm doing these activities and they mean a lot to me--the basics of why I'm doing these activities can be applied to "why dentistry" but I've been told that if it's not dental-related activity it won't really count. Whatever that means. I've been doing these activities for a while, and just because I'm doing something in a related field in terms of volunteering does not mean that my desire to do dentistry is any less than anyone who is doing dental volunteering. These are just the experiences that I have that have shaped my life.

I actually used an example from a volunteering activity to illustrate my altruism (not why dentistry specifically...just that I'm an altruistic person) within the "why dentistry" question at a mock interview at a dental school and then explained the evolution of how I came to the conclusion that dentistry was for me. I was told that this didn't relate to dentistry "enough" and therefore I shouldn't be using that as part of my reasoning if I wanted to have a "good" answer. Also, I was told that I needed a more "unique" reason (whatever that means) when I mentioned some of my reasoning while giving examples of why this is a genuine reason from me, so that's where that idea is coming from.

I've also been told by dental professionals to do XXXXX because "it looks good on your application" or "you can check that box," which I honestly think is BS. You should do things that you are interested in, whether or not they fit some sort of checklist. I think that's cheapening myself, to be perfectly honest. I don't want to do something just for the sake of having it appear on my application. I want to do things I'm interested in, but I'm feeling this pressure to conform to some idealized/super unique reason for "why dentistry" as well as the activities that I am involved in, and it's really upsetting.

Sorry, this is a complicated issue in my head, and I'm basically just venting at the moment.

 

[dentalWorks]

Okay, so I decided to make a separate thread about this. I couldn't find a thread that really matched what I'm going for, so bear with me.

I'm always hearing that people should come up with good reasons to answer the question "Why dentistry?"/"Why not medicine?" but I really don't think that's the case. I honestly think that there's no real answer to "why dentistry" that cannot apply to some specialty in medicine as well.

What I mean is, other than the whole "I love teeth!" or "I don't want to have to do a residency" thing (obviously!), but who is really going to say that in an interview? Those aren't really convincing reasons for "why dentistry" in my book.

Also, we all pretty much have similar (if not the same) versions of "why dentistry" and so I really think that this whole come up with a good answer for "why dentistry" is kind of BS. We can't reinvent the wheel here. We're all going to have similar answers, so what people should realistically say is "come up with a convincing answer" because that's how I see it.

FWIW, here are IMO the most common "why dentistry" reasons: helping people, artistic, working with hands, improving people's health, running a business, artistic, lifestyle, job security, positive/personal relationship with family dentist, etc etc.

Opinions/thoughts? Agree? Disagree? Neutral?

I bold'd the answer(s) that 100% of applicants will eventually yammer into during the interview. there is really nothing else to say.

They don't care WHY you want dentistry, they just want to see how well of a speaker you are. After all, dentistry is a socially interactive field, they wanna see how well you can speak. If you start sweating, stuttering, getting extremely nervous from a few basic questions about why you've chosen this career path, how will you deal with screaming / annoyed / and annoying patients in your face?

 

[KittySquared]

Shouldn't we? They're the ones making admissions decisions.

To me this thread isn't about what adcoms want to hear, though. I just wanted to know whether anyone else thought this "why dentistry"/"why not medicine" line of questioning is BS. That's what I'm geting at. I think it's a BS question that doesn't determine real reasons for wanting to go into dentistry, rather it determines how well you are able to convince the adcom that your reasons are genuine.


You can have any answer come "from the heart" but if you're not able to sell it, it'll come off fake.

No, the second you start to think "What should I say to make people like me" is the second you start to fail yourself and your future. Your answer should not be crafted to be validated by another party. Answer the why dentistry question outloud and see if you find yourself convincing. As what some have said here, most predents have similar answers, but it's really about how you convey yourself. Less than 30% of communication is verbal, and the rest depend on your emotions conveyed, tone of voice and facial expressions. This trite question is asked to thousands and thousands of students. If you've thought it, they've heard it. It's all about presentation. Your genuinness for the field and passion can't really be faked, unless you're a chronic liar or are involved in theatrics. These people are older and have interviewed faculty, residents, and a lot of people with much more experience than you, and even better liars than you will ever be. Selling yourself does not mean coming up with some outlandish story that no one has ever hear of before, so the best that you can do is to be genuine, regardless of how simple your answer may be, instead of attempting to get inside adcoms' heads and wonder "What can I do to make me stand out for them to like me?"

 

[shulk]

Remember that this is a dental school interview, not a criminal interrogation. They aren't asking you to prove beyond all doubt that you are god's gift to dentistry, that you came out of the womb with a drill in your right hand. They just want to make sure you aren't crazy and you've given a future in dentistry some serious thought.

 

[jlf1042]

It really is a hard question though. In one interview they really did drill me to differentiate between why specifically dentistry and not a physician. I have wanted to be a dentist since I was 13, so it was frustrating to realize that it clearly did not come across. I would love to go into detail and explain all the reasons, but we also need to be concise which can be difficult!!

 

[NDPitch]

Okay, so I decided to make a separate thread about this. I couldn't find a thread that really matched what I'm going for, so bear with me.

I'm always hearing that people should come up with good reasons to answer the question "Why dentistry?"/"Why not medicine?" but I really don't think that's the case. I honestly think that there's no real answer to "why dentistry" that cannot apply to some specialty in medicine as well.

Good info here.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=953698

 

[OMF_HNS]

When asked "why dentistry?" simply reply, "why not?"

Just kidding that'll get you a rejection 😀

Sent from my SGH-T999 using SDN Mobile

 

[HopeforDMD]

It doesn't matter what you say. Articulate yourself well and don't mention money (this says you're not the type they're looking for, and that you are confused about your prospects).

I would say they probably don't want you to deliver a moving speech following any of their questions, so relax. It's really not that hard to get into most schools if your numbers are right.

 

[PaulS]

The answer doesn't matter. They just want to see how good your communications skills are. Can you give good reasons? Can you talk properly?

 

[flatcamelbak]

The answer doesn't matter.

. Welcome to dental school, where the questions are made up and the answers don't matter.

We are all asked the same set of generic questions, but I would argue the answers are hugely important. I think of it as a spectrum of:

<--Horrible answer-----Generic answer----Great answer---------->

 

[debyeh77]

Okay, so I decided to make a separate thread about this. I couldn't find a thread that really matched what I'm going for, so bear with me.

I'm always hearing that people should come up with good reasons to answer the question "Why dentistry?"/"Why not medicine?" but I really don't think that's the case. I honestly think that there's no real answer to "why dentistry" that cannot apply to some specialty in medicine as well.

What I mean is, other than the whole "I love teeth!" or "I don't want to have to do a residency" thing (obviously!), but who is really going to say that in an interview? Those aren't really convincing reasons for "why dentistry" in my book.

Also, we all pretty much have similar (if not the same) versions of "why dentistry" and so I really think that this whole come up with a good answer for "why dentistry" is kind of BS. We can't reinvent the wheel here. We're all going to have similar answers, so what people should realistically say is "come up with a convincing answer" because that's how I see it.

FWIW, here are IMO the most common "why dentistry" reasons: helping people, artistic, working with hands, improving people's health, running a business, artistic, lifestyle, job security, positive/personal relationship with family dentist, etc etc.

Opinions/thoughts? Agree? Disagree? Neutral?

I don't think the answer to the question is really important, as long as you own up to the reason. I feel like all health professionals want to "help people." If they didn't then I wouldn't want them to be my doctor/dentist.. lol. But everyone has their own personal reasons for why they want to help people. Maybe it was something they saw, something they experienced. Just don't talk about salary.. hahha

 

[Titus Times]

I typed up the most amazing response to the question "why dentistry" But I choose not to post it because my answer is unique to my personal experience and passions.
+ I dont want any biters lol

So I would say the best answer to that question would be one that is so unique the Admission's have yet to hear it, and it does not have to be unique in OO I want to save the world one tooth at a time. It can be a simple as dentistry is a field that allows enough time off to be able to volunteer without financial pressure. Or dentistry provides you the opportunity to expand on your dream to be a sculpture.

But it has to be honest im sure everyone of you have something special you feel dentistry allows you to do, be it for a patient or yourself but I think the sincerity makes the answer rather than the content. And sincerity will show if you truly are passionate about your reason.

 

[Blue87Fiero]

Remember that this is a dental school interview, not a criminal interrogation. They aren't asking you to prove beyond all doubt that you are god's gift to dentistry, that you came out of the womb with a drill in your right hand. They just want to make sure you aren't crazy and you've given a future in dentistry some serious thought.

👍 I feel like most of my interviews have just been to see how I respond to there questions or made up situation.
example

Interview: makes up some crazy fake ethical situation.

Me: I don't now what I would do if something like that actually happened.

Interviewer: Well its real and its happening right now what do you do?

 

[paymaant]

interesting thread...